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Bure, Housley among 2012 IIHF Hall of Fame class

by
Adam Kimelman
/ NHL.com

Russian superstar Pavel Bure and Phil Housley, the highest-scoring U.S.-born defenseman in NHL history, are among five players that will be inducted into the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame.

The Class of 2012 will be celebrated May 20 in Helsinki, the final day of the IIHF World Championship.

Joining Bure and Housley will be six-time Finnish Olympian Raimo Helminen and Czech star Milan Novy. Former NHL coach Andy Murray will be inducted in the Builder's category, and Kent Angus was named the winner of the Paul Loicq Award for outstanding contributions to the IIHF and international hockey.

Bure burst onto the international hockey scene at the 1989 World Junior Championship. Playing on a line with Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Mogilny, he had 8 goals and 6 assists in just seven games. That same year, he was drafted in the sixth round by Vancouver Canucks.

Former Canuck Pavel Bure will be inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2012. (Photo: Getty Images)

He arrived in the NHL for the 1991-92 season and his impact was immediate. He had 34 goals and 60 points in 65 games and won the 1992 Calder Trophy.

He had 60 goals each of the next two seasons and led the Canucks to the 1994 Stanley Cup Final.

Bure also spent time with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers, won a pair of Rocket Richard trophies, posted five seasons with at least 50 goals and retired following the 2002-03 season with 437 goals and 779 points in just 702 games.

He was just as impressive in international play, scoring 9 goals in six games to help Russia to a silver medal at the 1998 Olympics, and he won bronze at the 2002 Games.

Housley played 21 NHL seasons with eight different teams, and his 338 goals, 894 assists and 1,232 points are the most among American-born defensemen in League history. Those numbers all rank him in the top five in NHL history regardless of national origin.

A native of St. Paul, Minn., Housley was taken by the Buffalo Sabres with the sixth pick of the 1982 Entry Draft and played in the NHL that same season. He had at least 60 points in his first 11 seasons, topped by a 97-point campaign in 1992-93.

Housley also represented the U.S. at numerous international events. He played in six World Championships, the 1996 champion World Cup team and won a silver medal at the 2002 Olympics, when he led all U.S. defensemen with 5 points in six games.

Helminen, who spent three seasons in the NHL after being a 1984 second-round pick of the New York Rangers, is considered one of the greatest players in Finnish hockey history, starring for his nation in six Olympics and 10 World Championships. He set a Finnish scoring record at the 1984 World Junior Championship when he had 11 goals and 13 assists in seven games, and helped Finland win its first major international tournament championship, at the 1995 World Championship. In all, he won a gold, four silvers and a bronze in his 10 World Championships, and a silver and two bronze medals at the Olympics.

Novy played just one NHL season, with the 1983-84 Washington Capitals, but he's more remembered for what he accomplished playing for Team Czechoslovakia. He had a Czech-record 122 goals in 214 national-team games, and won gold medals at the 1976 and '77 World Championships. He also won an Olympic silver medal in 1976 and World Championship silvers in 1975, '78, '79 and '82.

Murray has been successful at every level he's coached at, but his international victories might be his most impressive. Murray is the only non-Russian to win three World Championship gold medals, leading Team Canada to championships in 1997, 2003 and 2007.

Murray won 333 games in six seasons as coach of the Los Angeles Kings (1999-2006) and four with the St. Louis Blues (2006-10). He's also coached professionally in Switzerland.

The Canadian-born Angus, a long-time Nike employee, has been in charge of providing jersey and off-ice apparel to all top-division teams IIHF and Olympic tournaments since 1995.

Contact Adam Kimelman at akimelman@nhl.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NHLAdamK